Gladiator

by Seyary-Minamoto

In a world where the Avatar wasn't found, the Fire Nation took over two nations and they strive to overcome the last one. Water Tribe warrior Sokka seeks to fight for his people's rights, but he's captured by his enemies. His life is no longer in his hands as he fights as a Gladiator, and his fate will eventually depend on the Fire Nation Princess, who needs him for her own ends...

314. Chapter 314: The Battle of Ba Sing Se 3

A/N:

WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!

THIS WAS A DOUBLE UPDATE!

PLEASE ENSURE YOU HAVE READ THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER (313) BEFORE READING THIS CHAPTER! :'D

The Battle of Ba Sing Se

3

Temporary peace seemed to have settled over Ba Sing Se an hour and a half after noon. The logistics groups of the Gladiator and White Lotus army had taken to setting up a provisional camp for their forces to feed and rest briefly during the momentary ceasefire that their leader had issued out for their enemies. In the space of about twenty minutes, however, the logistics groups found themselves backed up and supported in droves by the local population. While many admitted that Governor Tiang had been a surprisingly good ruler over the city as a whole, and the most concerned one with the Lower Ring in recent history, the acute knowledge that he wasn't an Earth Kingdom man, that he had taken their city by force and been responsible for the deaths of countless people during his final campaign of conquest, had convinced the Lower Ring's citizens to rise against their city's current ruler rather quickly.

Not all those who joined did so in the intent of aiding the logistics groups, however: many earthbenders, if not well-trained, stepped forward to join the fighting directly. Some proud warriors did so, too – a handful of them had fought as gladiators in the Superior League as well, if not very successfully, and it appeared as though even some bandits meant to repurpose their weapons for the sake of freeing the city, too. The logistics groups had brought armor and weapons to spare, but it soon became apparent that their supplies of either kind would run short as their troops were bolstered beyond all expectations: Jet smirked as he watched the eager Ba Sing Se folks swarming the logistics teams that continued handing out whatever equipment they had left so that these newcomers, too, could assist in the upcoming battles in the Middle Ring.

"Looks like everyone wants their share of freedom, huh?" he said. Longshot, next to him, hummed in acknowledgement. "Who'd have thought so many would join the ranks of a group of freedom fighters so eagerly…?"

"We're not just kids in treehouses anymore," Longshot said, curtly. Jet smiled and nodded.

"Sokka's a much more reliable and eloquent leader than I'd ever be. I mean, he's very straightforward, doesn't sugarcoat anything… guess that makes him charismatic in his own way," Jet said, with a shrug. "To think we're back here, though… the very place where we were set free after all those years, Longshot."

"The Dai Li won't ever enslave us again… and neither will the Fire Nation," Longshot resolved, firmly. Jet nodded.

"You'll probably have to do more rooftop archery in the next stages, from what I know. Try not to get yourself killed out there, alright?" Jet said. Longshot scoffed softly.

"Big words from the guy who nearly got himself killed in Omashu…" he said: there was but a subtle tone of mirth in his voice, one that most people would have ignored, but Jet knew his friend all too well not to sense his moods and tones perfectly.

"Yeah, well, I was sloppier than I should have been," Jet admitted, smiling weakly at Longshot. "I don't intend to be this time. Anyway… I should check in with the bigshots. Who knows what else they're cooking up and I'm unaware of it…"

"Go on. I'll see if I can grab some more food," Longshot said.

"Looks like the locals have been bringing some too. Who could have ever imagined a city would be so eager to feed an army, huh?" Jet chuckled, raising a hand in farewell at his friend.

With that, Jet marched off to a large tent that had been erected in the more spacious area of the Lower Ring district they'd wound up at. It was the same tent under which Sokka had briefed all team leaders back in Ba Sing Se's outskirts, set up within the city this time for the sake of providing the army's leadership with sufficient privacy to discuss their next steps freely.

Jet pushed past the flap of the entrance, finding Sokka's closest friends and allies within, as well as the three generals of the White Lotus. A few other commanding officers, such as General Fong, also sat within the room: Sokka rested at the head of the war table, Ba Sing Se's detailed map spread before him. Pieces on the map marked their current location, proof of how far they had come in the most chaotic morning Ba Sing Se had seen in around a decade.

"The Middle Ring might not be where they'll focus the full brunt of their defenses next," Jeong Jeong said, studying the map as well. "Knowing the Avatar is on our side has certainly dealt a blow to General Tiang and his troops' morale. They must suspect we have what it takes to carry forward and into the Upper Ring…"

"But General Tiang won't sit back carelessly and let us do that unopposed," Sokka said, frowning. "Even if he expects to lose, he already told me he won't surrender… so he'll make things as difficult for us as he possibly can. We can't take for granted that the Middle Ring will be safe and easy to invade."

"Isn't that what you wanted Toph to scout for, though? To find out if it's going to be easier or harder?" Zuko asked. Sokka nodded.

"Toph's scouting?" Jet asked: Sokka's eyes flickered towards him only briefly before he answered his question with a nod.

"I suspect Tiang might have understood at least the basic gist of how we broke into the city so far," Sokka said. "He's bound to have a fair number of earthbenders working for him, the Fire Nation has held nothing back in regards of recruitment… so I expect him to send them underground to strengthen the walls and prevent another collapse like the one from the Inner Wall."

"Toph's going to figure out if he's planning on doing that, though, right?" Aang said, scratching Momo's head as the lemur perched on his shoulder. "And if things get tricky underground, well…"

"We can always break the wall from the surface, yes," General Fong said, nodding sagely.

"There'd be too much debris and chaos that way, so I'd rather we didn't. We already had plenty of chaos with our system so far," Sokka said, with a sigh. "That being said, we don't know if Tiang's tanks will be fully operational by now and, if they are, if he'll send them to the Middle Ring. We don't know for sure whether he'll defend the Middle Ring better than the Upper one, whether he'll balance his defenses… he has a lot of options, and we have to be ready to fight back against all of them."

"Can we be ready for everything, though?" said Zuko, eyeing Sokka warily. "I know you're trying to anticipate every defense you can think of, but if we commit to a set course of action, any mistakes in your projections could be chaotic."

"They almost were when they brought that tank into the Lower Ring," Sokka conceded, frowning. "We've been lucky, all in all, that they lowered their guard in this city to such an extent that they didn't have enough tanks to send against us right away. Ba Sing Se hasn't faced any real attacks from considerable enemy forces since a decade ago, and that's an advantage we could exploit so far. But we can't loosen up now: giving them a moment too long to gather more strength could make us lose the ground we've finally conquered."

His glare fell upon the Lower Ring's depiction on the map. It was the largest area of the city by far: the next trek through the city was likely to be the most challenging one, even if they had already made it well past the halfway mark of their journey into the heart of Ba Sing Se.

"The only thing left for us to surprise them with ANYMORE is our firebenders, I suppose… but even that might not be all that startling for them," Sokka said, breathing deeply. "Then again… Zuko, you could definitely lead your squad into position right by the wall Toph will bring down. If there's enemies right behind that wall, your group can unleash an inferno upon them and force them to back down. The Middle Ring is more spacious than the Lower one, so you'll be at less risk of setting everything on fire there, at least."

"Would there be more water sources up there, too?" Katara asked. "Anorak's group finally found a stream not that far away, but they couldn't do much other than pack up a few more barrels of water and refill the waterskins, from what he told me…"

"I can't pretend I was paying a ton of attention to water sources on my visits to the city, but I do think there were lakes and ponds further into the city, particularly in the Upper Ring," Sokka said, running a hand over his hair. "We'll see once we get there, but it's very likely that there will be more sources of water ahead. If there are… well, you can certainly help by creating full-on tidal waves to shove the enemies away. Might be that the best way to deal with the tanks is by drowning the soldiers within them, I don't know…"

"Sounds nasty… but probably doable," Katara conceded, with an awkward grin.

"Now, then…" Sokka said, breathing deeply as he tapped the wall between the Upper and Middle Rings. "I don't think we'll have time to take another break when we get to the Upper Ring. I hope we won't need one, either. We're marching non-stop from here on out…"

"Will we do more flanking with the cavalry charges?" Jet asked. Sokka grimaced.

"I don't think so, actually," he said. Jet's eyes widened. "The risk of more tanks deeper within the city means our mounts will be in too much danger, and an infantry march might prove more effective than a mounted one at that point. We'll try to keep doing the attacks with archers on rooftops, but the mounts are better off staying here, it makes no sense to lose them against their tanks. Those of us from the mounted squads will work on foot going forward."

"Well, we're all more experienced at doing it that way anyhow," Jet conceded.

"Is there any chance at all that General Tiang might surrender eventually?" Aang asked, with a sigh. "I mean, you've offered him many chances to give up, he hasn't accepted them, and we keep winning anyway. I can't understand why he'd keep fighting when we've already come this far…"

"He has no choice. He's been given none by his nation," Sokka said. "The man was raised all his life under the maddening ideology that his existence is only valuable so long as he can be of use to the Fire Lord. Saving his own life isn't going to be a priority… saving his loved ones might be, but even then, I can't be sure the indoctrination by the Fire Nation didn't go quite as deep and far as to prepare him to forsake anyone and everything for the Fire Lord's sake, even his wife…"

Using Jin as a hostage had come to mind as he pondered less aggressive ways to put an end to the conflict: not only did he feel it would have been a sleazy move, though, but he genuinely couldn't trust that one of Ozai's best soldiers wouldn't be ready to sacrifice the woman he loved for the sake of the Fire Nation's conquest. Tiang had claimed he wouldn't surrender… he wouldn't give up until every wall of the city broke, until every citizen of Ba Sing Se had turned against him, and he had nowhere left to run. Even then, he might just decide to play the martyr, to sacrifice himself for a worthless cause… and as much as Sokka didn't wish to kill him – much as he hadn't wanted to kill anyone thus far – Tiang wouldn't be the first man whose life would go to waste over the Fire Lord's mindless war efforts. Sokka's body carried enough scars, reminders of many other people the Fire Nation had sacrificed against their will… the lives Sokka had taken for the sake of surviving and fighting until a day like this one could finally arrive.

It was odd to feel strength in those scars when they had hurt him so badly across the years… but on that day, it seemed to Sokka that he was proving himself worthy of his survival. It seemed to Sokka that he would be honoring the gladiators who had died by his hand all those years ago: their souls seemed to linger in Sokka somehow, holding his weapons along with him, adding their power to his own so that he could finally avenge them, ending the tyranny that had assailed their world for over a hundred years.

Thirty minutes were left before the ceasefire ended and their next attack commenced: just so, Toph finally returned while the group continued to discuss possible tactics going forward.

"Well, I've got some shitty news, Sokka," Toph said, startling everyone into silence once she marched unceremoniously into the tent. "Not only will we have company underground, I felt the bastards approaching just when we were about to leave… but I felt movement above ground too. I focused more and found they dug a fuckload of trenches, traps, ditches… and going by what I feel poking out of them, they're probably stuffed full of spears and wooden stakes, too."

"Ugh… like the ones I nearly fell into with Foo-Foo," Katara grimaced.

"Wait… seriously?" Zuko frowned. "They couldn't have had the time to set that up all across the Middle Ring…!"

"They might have started preparing those traps after sending the tank to the Lower Ring," Sokka reasoned. "They've had some time to set it up. Hopefully not enough to fill the entire Middle Ring with them, but…"

"But that's going to be trouble," Katara concluded. "Foo-Foo and I only got through those traps because I used my waterbending to bridge our way across… and I don't think me and the other waterbenders can do that for every trap going forward."

"They might bring forth their tanks while we're attempting to sort our way through those traps, too," Jeong Jeong said. "They're not bound to establish a large field of potential traps only to leave us stranded: they will intend to take advantage of those traps to strike against us somehow while we try to overcome them."

"Knowing the Fire Nation, they would set up such traps in the key locations that would lead us to the Upper Ring," Piandao added. "Sorting out the traps, finding a safe way to progress onwards will take time…"

"And leaving the mounts here is definitely a must now, if this is how it is," Jet said, frowning.

Sokka tapped the table, his brow furrowed. The others discussed among themselves while he remained quiet… but once their comments ceased, everyone turned towards the silent leader of their army.

"How many people did you sense underground?" Sokka asked. Toph shrugged.

"Beats me, but a fair bunch, I suppose. Not a ton, definitely not enough to be a problem for me and my team," Toph said. "We've got a bunch of reinforcements from the Lower Ring now too, or so they told me…? We'll make sure the wall goes down the way you want it to, Sokka."

"How about if the full army goes underground?" proposed General Fong. "Traveling above ground won't be easy if there's deadly traps everywhere. It might be easier to resort to what we did to reach Ba Sing Se in the first place…"

"Would be easier than that too, the whole place's dug out already, but…" Toph said, grimacing – something told her Sokka wouldn't choose that course of action, and she wasn't wrong to suspect as much.

"Marching onwards, above ground, provides some manner of defense to the Lower Ring with our offense," Sokka said. "If we all vanish underground, or at least, a lot of us do, they'll have the way clear to attack our logistics groups, mounts, everything that would ideally stay back while we charge in. We can't drag all the new recruits from the Lower Ring underground either, they're not likely to be trained to deal with that kind of highly specialized fighting, as far as I can tell…"

"Then what do we do?" Toph asked, folding her arms over her chest. "C'mon, you can't say you're out of ideas if…"

"I never said that," Sokka clarified: the clarity and sharpness in his eyes and tone succeeded at silencing everyone in the tent as they gazed at him intently. "Do you think you can tear down the wall, just as before?"

"Well, yeah. If those dunderheads underground try to stop us, we'll wreck them," Toph said, with a careless shrug. "So… yeah, I definitely can get my people to do that."

"They're earthbenders: not all of them might be easy to turn, but it's possible you could even persuade them to switch sides, so don't settle for killing them if there's a chance that they might join us instead," Sokka said. Toph huffed.

"Well, it'd be easier to just smack them, I guess… but I'll try," she said, with a shrug. "And then?"

"After that, I'll need you and your earthbenders to give us a hand with sorting out the problem with the traps. From below ground," Sokka said: a slow smirk spread over his face as everyone regarded him with curiosity and confusion. "We'll be fighting on two levels, going forward. You'll be underground, Toph… the rest of us will be above ground, at least until we break past the wall of the Upper Ring."

"Heh… you're as bonkers as you ever have been, but that sounds about right," Toph smirked. "What exactly do you want me to do, then? What sort of batshit plan do you have in mind now?"

Sokka smirked: as it often happened, the expression on his face eerily reminded Zuko of his sister. Inevitably, he wondered if she'd have the same ideas Sokka had, if only she were here. Perhaps Ba Sing Se's governor would have already surrendered if he were facing the Fire Nation Princess directly… but he almost was, in a sense, by facing the man whose spirit and energy were ever connected to her. Perhaps he hadn't understood how precarious his situation was yet, Zuko thought, but as far as he could tell, Tiang's sole choice left was deciding in which manner he meant to relinquish control of Ba Sing Se, altogether…

---

"Tanks have been deployed to the Middle Ring's defense successfully, sir."

"How many are operational so far, Captain Benzhong?"

"Seventy-five. We have sent forty into the Middle Ring, the remaining ones are reinforcing security in the Palace and the rest of the Upper Ring."

Tiang released a breath and nodded. Seventy-five tanks. He had around three hundred when he had first taken Ba Sing Se.

The years had made them complacent. There had been no need for maintaining most of the vehicles, some had even been mobilized and sent to other locations for support whenever there were rebellions to quell throughout the fallen Earth Kingdom. Little by little, tanks had gone as good as forgotten due to how they had fallen out of use, how costly their upkeep would be… and now he paid the price for his assumption, his hope, that they would never need them again.

Everything was in shambles. It didn't matter how he looked at the situation, the battle appeared hopeless. His efforts for the city's wellbeing had gone to waste: the hot-air balloons had confirmed that the evacuation efforts in the Lower Ring had backfired. Numerous saved, protected civilians had learned of what was happening… and right after being protected from the enemy's assault, they had rushed out to join the invading force. That Tiang's administration had protected them from the tide of chaos the Blue Wolf's forces had brought with him meant nothing to them anymore. Nothing he'd ever done for them did.

Jin's efforts to rally the Upper and Middle Rings to their cause had been valiant, but ultimately, they would amount to very little: the bulk of the city's population dwelled in the Lower Ring, and those beyond it were mostly nobles, scholars, entrepreneurs and intellectuals of society who had no notion of combat and had cared very little to learn how to wield a weapon throughout their lives. That wasn't going to change considerably today, no matter how supportive they were of Jin's efforts once Tiang returned to the Upper Ring.

He had to tell her what had happened. Even now, after being brought by the hot-air balloon and conferring with Captain Benzhong at the Palace, Tiang hadn't spoken with his wife yet. She had to know matters weren't going well for their side… but he feared her reaction all the same once she learned that the Lower Ring she had long championed and fought to improve and strengthen had fallen… that he had failed to take a stand against the Blue Wolf and the devastating forces he had brought with him.

For it wasn't only the Gladiator… it was the Avatar, curses, the fabled legend who had been gone for a hundred years, the entity blessed with the ability to bend multiple elements… and the one they saw in the Lower Ring certainly could bend all of them. Those tattoos, that outfit… they were the traditional marks of an airbending master, as far as Tiang knew. He had never seen them in person, but he had certainly read and heard about those blue arrows…

And then there were those who had stood with the Gladiator, too, once he had spoken at the wall and given him the hour-long ultimatum to surrender. Tiang hadn't identified them personally, he hadn't looked out to do so… but the reports from those standing by the walls had revealed that the Gladiator stood with strong men who had betrayed the Fire Nation just as well, even one who Tiang had held in high regards for a long time, much higher than the Gladiator himself.

"Distribute the Middle Ring tanks behind the line of trapped streets," Tiang said. "Position them at the longer avenues, with enough distance to fire their ballista shots safely into their forces from afar."

"Yes, sir."

"Do the same with the ones in the Upper Ring, if you would," Tiang confirmed with Benzhong, who nodded in agreement with his command. "What's the total number of our forces at the moment?"

"The exact number is unknown, General, but our forces within the city numbered around thirty thousand before this battle," said Commander Tengchao, walking together with Tiang and Benzhong as they marched out of the Palace, down its long staircase. "At the moment, we may have around ten thousand at the ready to defend the Middle and Upper Rings…"

"Only ten thousand?" Tiang repeated, scowling. Tengchao flinched.

"Besides the casualties we've sustained… some soldiers have not answered our call."

Tiang's stomach sank. No doubt, this was exactly what the more conservative and radical of the Fire Lord's advisors had always argued about when it came to recruiting Honorary Citizens for the army: they had needed to bolster their forces with Earth Kingdom-born folks, however, and Tiang himself had been an advocate of doing so. He had genuinely believed, expected, that these forces would protect Ba Sing Se above all else, as that was all he truly needed from them: he hadn't destroyed the city's identity, he hadn't trampled over their cultural practices, he hadn't reformed the local Palace to make it resemble the Fire Nation's own… all along, Tiang had simply wanted to keep this city safe, no matter which nation it belonged to anymore. He had thought others would share that goal… clearly, he had been mistaken to assume as much.

"I see," he said, firmly, fists tightened as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

A large mass of soldiers in Fire Nation uniforms stood before a dais that had been raised for a speech Jin was delivering right now: what could have seemed a respectable, dignified army in any other circumstances didn't inspire any manner of trust in Tiang's crestfallen heart.

"… For this is our home! It's up to us to defend it, to keep it safe and peaceful as it has been for the past ten years! Ba Sing Se has endured the harshest of battles, the most difficult of circumstances, but this city is as strong as the hearts of all its citizens!" Jin exclaimed, powerfully, to a crowd that listened faithfully to her every word. "We have fought to make this a city where all of us could feel safe, at home, at peace… and today we will fight for those ideals! Protect our walls, protect our people, our children, our elderly…! Protect our dreams to see this city prosperous and strong, for that's what it means to be a warrior, a soldier of Ba Sing Se!"

Her final words were answered with an array of war cries by supportive soldiers: Fire Nation men stood in a ratio of ten to one among the Earth Kingdom-born ones… but their birthplaces seemed to have no effect on their devotion and willingness to fight for the safety of their city. They shouted together, ready and eager to stand their ground to defend Ba Sing Se from the new invading force… a force Tiang already knew might cost them their lives.

A pang of guilt swirled inside his gut. How many men had he led to their deaths as it was? How many times would he make the same mistake? How many times…?

Jin turned on the dais: she had seen the hot-air balloon flying into the Palace not long ago, and she had suspected that it might carry her husband. She let out a sigh of relief at the sight of him, unharmed and safe… and yet the desolate expression on his face chilled her heart at once. Those were the eyes she had seen in the faces of soldiers who had fought against Tiang's original siege: the eyes of defeat.

"T-Tiang…?" she trembled as she rushed down the steps of the dais the earthbenders of the army had built for her. "Tiang! What's happened? You're alright, but…!"

Tiang's hands fell upon her shoulders. Jin's eyes met his for a moment as he pondered what to say, how to say it…

"Come… come with me," he said, swallowing hard. "Come with me, Jin."

Her confusion surged as he wrapped an arm around her waist and led her back to the stairs, back into the Palace. He ordered the two commanding officers with him to help organize the troops and marched up with Jin all the way to the Palace's foyer.

"What's going on?" Jin said: they weren't exactly somewhere private yet, but the noise of the soldiers wasn't as audible back here anymore. "You look like… you were in a fight? Tiang…"

"I fought him," Tiang said, trembling violently. Jin's eyes widened. "I… I don't know if you heard already. You might have, but if you didn't… the Blue Wolf is leading this army, Jin. It's…"

"I… I was told, but I assumed it had to be a lie," Jin said, her lips trembling when she heard confirmation from her husband. "I… I thought they were only saying this because it was some man with a black blade or…!"

"It was a man with a black blade… the Blue Wolf himself. I spoke with him. He threatened me," Tiang said, his voice trembling as much as Jin did. Her hands went up to her mouth as she shook her head repeatedly. "He… he demands my surrender. He wants to…"

"Why?!" Jin gasped. "W-we…! He knows we've done our best for this city! He knows we've fought to protect Ba Sing Se all along, he's been here, we've known him for years…!"

"I… I don't know, Jin. Or maybe I do and I'd like to pretend I don't," Tiang said, covering his face with his hands and shaking his head. "I… accused him of betraying her. He was mostly level-headed, but not after I said that. He… he says he's not the one who betrayed her. So…"

"So, what, this is war of revenge because of… of the Fire Lord's choice to force her to marry…?" Jin said, blinking blankly, eyes flickering from side to side. Tiang shook his head.

"I think… we should assume he was preparing for this for much longer than we believe," Tiang said, gritting his teeth. "The army with him… curses, the White Lotus joined him. Who knows who else is part of that army but they're… they're bad enough as it is, Jin. The Deserter stands with him…"

"The… Deserter?" Jin repeated, puzzled. Tiang nodded.

"Admiral Jeong Jeong. He was one of Fire Lord Azulon's favorite military leaders years ago," Tiang explained. "He abandoned the army and… and he's the one who supposedly nearly killed the Gladiator some years ago. You remember I received news of that once…?"

"I… yes, but that… wait, do you think it was faked?" Jin asked, puzzled. "That he… pretended to be their enemy, that they wanted to kill him while they were actually…?"

"I don't know," Tiang said, gritting his teeth and shaking his head. "But I have asked that War Minister Qin is informed of what's happened here, and he'll be sure to alert the Fire Lord as well. The chances that they might be able to save us are slim, probably non-existent… but if this man has been part of the White Lotus all along, he won't stop in Ba Sing Se if he succeeds at taking this city. He… he'll come for Fire Lord Ozai eventually. That has to be his ultimate goal."

"Tiang…" Jin gazed at him helplessly as he breathed deeply, unable to meet her gaze.

"There's more: former Captain Piandao, a retired officer and sword master… he was with them too," Tiang said, gravely. "And… and General Iroh, too."

"General…?!" Jin gasped: her naturally frizzy hair seemed to stand on end upon hearing that last revelation: Tiang's remorseful gaze finally rose to meet hers.

"It's madness," he said, shaking his head. "But that's not even… not even everything, or everyone: he has at least one waterbender with him, who knows how many of them if not just the one, probably more firebenders than just the Deserter or General Iroh, and the blasted madman managed to destroy the sole tank we were able to deploy in the Lower Ring to stall his progress. I thought I might have a chance to defeat him then… but two of his allies flanked us on either side, and we had no choice but to flee when one of them… one of them was riding a sky bison."

"A… what? A sky…?" Jin repeated, her horror replaced by utter perplexity.

"He… he couldn't be real, I thought, but he used earthbending against me and…" Tiang said, a nervous laugh, tears springing in the corners of his eyes. "And then he used firebending. And waterbending. And… and airbending."

"What…? What?!" Jin gasped: once more, horror took the wheel as she clasped Tiang's arms firmly. "You're not saying… you're not saying they have the Avatar in their ranks, are you? Tiang…!"

"I'm… I'm saying exactly that, Jin," Tiang said, gaping at her helplessly. Her jaw dropped, and as much as she covered her face with her hands, there was nothing to do to contain her utter shock upon learning the legendary figure of the Avatar, so distant and forgotten, was alive…

Alive and fighting alongside an army hellbent on taking their city.

Jin shook her head at Tiang, whose hands fell upon her shoulders again as he reeled her in for an embrace: the bleak expression across his face spoke for itself.

"N-no. No, Tiang, you… you can't give up here. I know this is terrifying, if it's the Avatar, but you…" Jin said, trying to contain the sobs of desperation. "Y-you swore to me you'd do right by this city. T-that you'd fight for it… as though you'd been born to it. T-that you'd defend it against anything…"

"I swore as much to you… and I've failed," Tiang admitted, lowering his head: Jin's sobs grew more desperate, and yet she clung to his clothes now, fingers digging into Tiang's skin. "I… I meant to force them back. But I failed at that, too. Jin… they were unstoppable. The Lower Ring is… is rallying behind them, too. We've lost control of it… and the Middle Ring is next."

"N-no, you can't… you can't lose this fight, Tiang. You can't, Tiang, if you do then…" Jin said, shivering as she gazed up at him in despair. He gritted his teeth, cupping her face delicately.

"You… have always been the soul of this city. Its very beating heart," he said, bringing their foreheads together. "You brought out the best in me… you inspired me to become someone worthwhile when I feared nothing I could ever do would amount to anything. Nothing… nothing could have justified my prolonged existence, my survival, when so many others were far worthier than me. I've always blessed the day you agreed to become my wife… but Jin, you are more than my wife. You have led these people in your own way, sometimes by working far harder than I did in order to understand Ba Sing Se deeply. You… you taught me what it truly meant to rule and govern. No one is worthier of this city than you… so whatever happens to me now, whatever happens today, stand strong, my love. Don't let them… don't let them break your spirit. Stand for this city however you can, for… for if you already changed the heart of one of its conquerors, you may yet do so with the next one."

"No, don't… don't talk like that, Tiang, please!" Jin exclaimed, tears streaming freely down her face. Tiang gritted his teeth, brushing away her tears.

"I love you, Jin," he whispered, and her heart seemed ready to shatter into a thousand pieces at the finality of his tone. "Stay safe… stay strong. I know you want to do more, you always have… but we're facing forces we've never had to stand against before. We were unprepared, I don't even know how the hell they reached our walls without anyone noticing their approach, but…"

"You're the strongest leader in the Fire Lord's army. You always were," Jin said, tears streaming freely down her face. "I didn't want to love you, you know I didn't, but you… you won me over because you were genuine, because you were true, because… because I could see you wanted to do right by my people. You can't tell me this is… this is how it all ends. That this is as far as we go, Tiang, I… I can't fathom it. I can't stand it…"

"You'll go further. You'll go further," Tiang said, reeling her in for a comforting embrace that didn't fulfill its goal. "I'm sorry that it's come to this… I never wanted it to. But while I'll fight to my last breath to protect the city we love… I entrust you with my hopes that this city will survive this madness, no matter what comes next. They… they might not tear down Ba Sing Se. It doesn't seem they destroyed much of the Lower Ring, even if the destruction of the walls took its toll… so they might be a less chaotic force than mine was, when I first breached the walls. So… you might have a chance to reason with them. To work with them, to…"

"I don't want them, I want you," Jin said, sniffing as she cupped his face in her hands. "You're my husband. I… d-don't make me fear I'll lose you. Tiang, please…"

"I'll do everything in my power to survive… to win," he said, clasping her hands in his. "If that's enough… then this won't be the last time we stand side by side. But if it were, I…"

Jin didn't let him finish: her lips crashed into his, much as they had the first time they had dared breach the boundaries that had started their romantic relationship.

Fear pulsed through her heart, through her chest, urging her to keep him with her at all costs, to keep him away from the deadly path of the Blue Wolf and his forces… the Blue Wolf. The goofy man who had taken his seat by the Princess during meals, who had stood beside her during the training drills of the Enforcers and even offered them a couple of lessons… he had seemed a good man, a harmless man unless provoked. So why would he attack this city…? Why their city rather than charging against Ozai himself, if revenge was what he sought? If he had the Avatar, why strike away at a city he had always been welcome in? If he wanted to defend the Princess… if he wanted to fight for her, why not choose a peaceful approach? Why not contact Tiang and request his aid in this endeavor? With how distraught Tiang had been upon learning tgat the Princess would be forced to marry Zhao, wouldn't he have agreed to join forces with the Blue Wolf to save her from that nefarious fate?

Why resort to war? After all these years, that was the main source of anguish Jin could feel: she was weary of the battles, of the violence, of the suffering… she had hoped to amend this city, to heal its wounds, and yet she knew, deep down, that as long as the Fire Nation held control over Ba Sing Se, their people wouldn't be at ease, at peace. A part of her understood that feeling, a part of her felt the same discomfort of knowing their sovereignty had been undermined… and yet after all those years of enduring his stubborn silences, King Kuei hardly represented any manner of sovereignty of the Earth Kingdom himself, not in Jin's heart. His profound disconnection from his people had eventually led Jin to give up on him… to grow convinced that Ba Sing Se's path to betterment might be found in a mutual understanding and integration of Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation now that they were forced to coexist, rather than in the absolute victory of one over the other…

The right way forward was utterly confusing for Jin, it had been all along, even if in her heart she had grown convinced of the worth of the man in her arms. But now, the certainty with which that Gladiator powered through Ba Sing Se, tearing wall after wall to shreds, compelled her to question the conclusions she had reached before: was this truly the only way forward? Was war the sole solution their world would ever see for their troubles?

The world hadn't been healing at all: conflict had simply bided its time before erupting once again in whatever form it cared to. And this time, it took the form of a vengeful Water Tribe warrior, carrying forward a campaign of conquest that would either save their world at last or condemn it to furthering its cycle of imbalance and hatred forevermore…

---

Yet again, Toph led the way underground: this time, her forces didn't need to exhaust themselves by digging out tunnels to achieve their goal. A spacious undercity existed in Ba Sing Se, much wider and more complex than the one beneath Omashu. Around four hundred earthbenders marched behind the Blind Bandit, who stubbornly progressed towards the wall… before which stood a squad of men whose identities were clear even before they spoke a single word.

"Turn back!" exclaimed one of them, fists raised in their direction. The others followed his lead. "This city isn't yours to do with as you please!"

"You sure? Looks like the Lower Ring folks don't mind us much," Toph rebuffed carelessly, showing no intent of taking up an aggressive stance as she came to a halt at a safe distance from the enemy: their stances were those of earthbenders on the most part… one, a single one, appeared to be a firebender instead.

That very firebender stepped forward, fists tightened and trembling at either side of his body. The troops behind Toph seemed ready to fight him, but their leader gave them no orders for them to do so: she remained nonchalant where they were anxious and nervous, as though this group of fifty benders, if that, was completely insignificant for her – in all likelihood, because it was.

"You will not destroy Ba Sing Se's walls again! We have come here to intercept you, as you can see…!"

"Actually, I can't. I'm blind, you know?" Toph said, waving a hand carelessly in front of her face: her response saw the firebender slowing on his tracks… and one of the earthbenders behind him gasped in recognition.

"T-the Blind… the Blind Bandit?!" he said.

"Ah, a fan, were you?" Toph smirked. "Don't be annoying, let us through and I'll sign an autograph for you and everything…!"

"Y-you…! How dare you disrespect your enemy with such trite offers!" the firebender exclaimed, raising his fists in her direction. "Whoever you may be, you will take your forces and you will return to whence you came!"

"No can do, stuffy wimp," Toph said, with a careless shrug. "I've spent my whole life making sure not to be bound to anyone, not to follow anyone's orders… and it turns out I've had to break that promise to myself because I know Sokka's got a pretty good set of brains up in that head of his when he wants to put them to good use. And he wants to do that right now, so I'm following his orders… and that's more than enough for me. Took me ages to learn to listen to him, so why the hell would I listen to you?"

"You have no right…!" the firebender exclaimed, and voices rose among Toph's troops: that so many voices would speak at once to rebuff his claim daunted the man, for in the darkness of the tunnels it was quite difficult to assert however many foes they were supposed to be facing… Toph, however, only let out a mischievous laugh.

"It's not just that you're wrong when you say that…" she said, running a hand over her hair. "But it's honestly kind of hilarious that you'd just say something as stupid as that: Earth Kingdom people have no right to their city and their continent? Keep that up and you're just going to convince us to break you all against that wall before pulling it down, you know? Really goddamn clever choices you're making, stuffy wimp…"

"W-why haven't you done it, then?" the one who recognized Toph asked. She raised an eyebrow, her attention shifting towards him. "You're the Blind Bandit. You… you could probably bring down one of these walls on your own…!"

"Heh. Nice of you to say so. Bet I could, yeah, but I'd wear myself out too fast. Still got a couple more walls to get through, don't we?" she said, with a shrug. "Better to work with friends…"

"T-that's not my point!" the nervous earthbender exclaimed. "Why… haven't you defeated us?"

"Uh… because Sokka said you guys had an hour to surrender. Time's not up yet. He said we had about ten minutes to go." Toph said, simply.

The earthbending squad froze on their spots. Even the firebender was taken aback by such a simple response… by the dangerous sensation it elicited within them: the Blind Bandit would have destroyed them if the truce the Gladiator had offered them had already ended? That surely didn't mean she wasn't going to defend herself or fight back if they attempted to attack her first… but her willingness to show mercy until the time was up certainly took them by surprise.

"So… it's probably around five minutes now, considering how long it took us to come all this way," Toph reasoned, with a shrug. "While the one who's supposed to surrender is your boss, you guys are free to do it too. More than that… you shouldn't just surrender: join us, instead."

"What…?! You…! How dare you propose something so preposterous?!" the firebender shouted: his furious reaction did little to conceal the fear that concept elicited within him. He was, after all, the sole firebender in the group… and the earthbenders with him were, on the most part, trueborn citizens of Ba Sing Se who might just make a choice he wouldn't be particularly pleased with. "The Fire Nation army is an army of conviction! Of purpose! We do not turn our backs on our own…!"

"That's nice for you, dunderhead, but those guys were Earth Kingdom before they were Fire Nation," Toph said, with a shrug. "So was I. And hey, I didn't give a rat's ass about who the hell was in power… until the piece of shit in power decided to screw over someone I care about. I'm selfish that way, definitely… but I learned my bloody lesson: there's no damn honor in standing by and fighting alongside scum like the Fire Lord. He'll never fight alongside you to begin with… you're all pawns, garbage he'll dispose of if you so much as look at him funny. If he was all too happy to throw his daughter into the depths of hell… he'd do much worse to the likes of you. Is that the fucker you want to serve? Is that the purpose and conviction of your damn army?!"

Toph's words earned her many nods and approving growls from the troops behind her. She scowled heavily as she regarded the nervous firebender with far more emotion than she had so far.

"The Fire Nation will be better off too if we win. Because we'll get rid of him… and someone way better's going to sit on that throne afterwards," Toph said. "No more war… no more senseless deaths. No more soldiers dying like cattle for a Fire Lord who'll never know your names, for whom your sacrifice will only mean something if he can take advantage of it somehow. No more standing by the worst man in the world just because you're forced to. There's no way the Fire Nation will keep control of Ba Sing Se for a day longer… so if you're scared for your families, don't be. They'll be just fine once we take over, whether you join us or not. Worried that they'll think you're traitors because you joined the Fire Nation for some time? Heh, there's a nice bunch of Enforcers with us, and they're just as welcome in our ranks as you guys will be, as long as you want to fight for your city.

"Ultimately… Sokka told me to give you folks a chance to make a choice. I don't really care one way or another if I have to smash through all of you to achieve what we set out to do… but if at least one of you has the brains to make the right choice, join us instead. You'll be better off if you do."

"Nonsense!" the firebender screamed, trembling violently. "You and your kind won't… you won't get away with this! You're led by a man who betrayed the Fire Nation…!"

"Betrayed the…? Ha!" Toph snorted, hands on her hips.

"The Fire Lord must have…! H-he must have learned of this betrayal!" exclaimed the firebender. "He must have realized this wretched Gladiator was bringing your legions to his doorstep! That's why the Gladiator League ended, and why…!"

"Your imagination sure is lackluster, I'll tell you that much!" Toph cackled, shaking her head.

"It's not…! It must be the truth! You're trying to deceive them with falsehoods!" the firebender said, stubbornly. "The Fire Lord will come to Ba Sing Se and lay waste to the city if he must in order to expunge you all from…!"

"Ah… and there you go," Toph smirked, gesturing at the firebender. "He'll lay waste to the city, is it? And that's the piece of shit you want to join forces with, you guys?"

The firebender only seemed to grow aware of his mistake once it was too late to take it back. Some of the earthbenders taking up formation lowered their hands, casting confused glances at the firebender: the flickering flame in his hands trembled further.

"I…! I mean, lay waste upon the enemies! Upon their ilk!" the man exclaimed, but the damage was done.

"Oh, no… not at all, wimp," Toph said, shaking her head slowly. "He would destroy the whole city. He'd fucking burn down Ba Sing Se, raze it to the ground and kill everyone within these walls if he could get away with it… but we won't let him get away with that."

"How…?" asked one of the earthbenders. "How are you so sure? The Fire Lord has… he has so many resources, the Fire Nation's advancements for warfare have won him so many battles…!"

"Well, let's see: we're a huge army led by the Gladiator, the Fire Lord's chosen worst enemy," Toph started to recite, raising her eyebrows. "A guy who has escaped twice from the Fire Lord's attempts to murder him and who led not only this battle but also the takeover of Omashu, which he pulled off without the Fire Nation noticing so that none of Ozai's goons had the slightest clue that was going on! But there's also the White Lotus bigshots: I can't pretend I'm all that fond of them, but they scare Ozai plenty too, as far as I know. Then, there's even Ozai's son, Zuko, standing with us and willing to fight his father… and there's, of course, the most important member of our great army: me, the Blind Bandit!"

Her conclusion startled most of the earthbenders standing with her, even if a few of the enemies were puzzled, too. Toph sighed, huffing and shrugging carelessly.

"Well, fine, the Avatar's with us too, but he's really not much of an earthbender yet-…"

"T-the Avatar?!" gasped one of the earthbenders.

"You lie!" exclaimed the firebender: his fear was even more apparent now. Toph smirked.

"Wanna bet?" she said. "And that's the one you're most scared of, heh. What a bunch of dummies, am I right, Captain Monument?"

"Well, the Avatar can sound scary, but I have no doubt you're scarier," Shanyuan answered. Toph snickered proudly. "Though… General Sokka might be scarier than you."

"That's…! Ugh, well, fine, I'll concede that one if I have to, but don't you say now that Zuko's scarier than me too or we'll have a problem here, Monument!" she exclaimed, prompting Shanyuan to chuckle softly.

"No worries, no worries…" Shanyuan said, as Toph turned again towards the shivering men by the wall.

"Point being: you fucks had better cut it out, because if you stand with the Fire Nation, you die now!" Toph roared. "Return to your damn roots, and you'll get to live long enough to enjoy the Earth Kingdom's rebirth! What do you say?!"

The men around the firebender seemed to tremble for a moment, one that extended for far too long for their commanding officer. The man turned towards the earthbenders… noticing they had lowered their hands and loosened their positions of combat.

"N-no. You're not going to…" he said, glancing at them in sheer horror. "You were given duties to fulfill, in the Fire Lord's name! You…! You must fight! You can't turn against the Fire Nation now…!"

"Say," said one of the earthbenders, gazing at the commanding officer with genuine remorse. "You wouldn't turn your back on the Fire Nation for the Earth Kingdom's sake, or would you?"

"I… What?! T-that's not…!"

"If you would, it means you ought to think about joining them too," the earthbender continued, mournfully. "Can you truly ask us to stick with you if you wouldn't do the same thing, if given the chance?"

"He still has the chance. Even if I don't like him," Toph added. The earthbender sighed as the firebender shook his head, frantically.

"You're all loyal to the Fire Lord, you swore oaths, vows…!" he exclaimed.

"But is the Fire Lord loyal to us?" the same earthbender asked.

The firebender had no answer. He stood in place, his face falling, his flame dwindling until it faded and the depths of the tunnel were only lit by the occasional green crystals growing throughout the tunnel. The absence of light didn't affect Toph in the slightest… so she sensed what the others couldn't see: the firebender fell on his knees, shaking his head in denial for just one moment before the man he spoke to so far struck him swiftly, hard, knocking him unconscious.

"He's… down," the earthbender said: a rumor of noise rushed through Toph's group as she stepped forward confidently, knowing that the other earthbender spoke the truth. "You're… you're serious about letting us join you? Even after we…?"

"A lot of people had to do weird shit to survive. I'm not going to hold it against you and neither will our leader," Toph said, firmly.

"Your leader…" said the man who had recognized her earlier. "The Blue Wolf? Is it truly him? H-he's… alive?"

"More alive today than he's been in a while, I bet," Toph said. "You thought he was dead?"

"The rumors about the Grand Royal Dome made it sound like he was," the earthbender responded. "But no one knew anything for sure. A bunch of theories were… were spreading around, about how maybe he'd been, well… involved with the Princess. That maybe the Fire Lord found out… that maybe he was caught forcing himself on her or…"

"Pfft! Now that's bullshit!" Toph huffed, snarling. "Who the hell's spreading that kind of crap?!"

"I… I don't know! I never knew if it was true b-but I guess it wasn't if he's leading your forces now!" the soldier shrank in place. "P-people just like making up stories, I suppose it wasn't true that they had a relationship or anything like that…"

"Oh, no: they were totally banging each other's brains out for years, it's the whole 'forced himself on her' part that pissed me off," Toph said: her willingness to reveal that much shocked everyone into silence, even her own troops. She scowled. "What? You lot knew that much already, for crying out loud! And now you lot know it too! They were totally into each other, crazy about each other, and it's gross as hell that I'm defending their sex lives but that's the weird-ass place my life has brought me to, apparently!"

All earthbenders underground appeared momentarily frozen by the willful words spoken by the Blind Bandit. She huffed, stepping forward and picking up the unconscious firebender without another word: while the man might just be a pompous idiot, there was a chance he wasn't as dreadful a soldier as many others of his nation had been. She had no way of knowing what kind of cruelties he had committed or not… so others would have to pass judgment on him, not her.

"Captain Monument?" Toph called him: Shanyuan rushed to her side and Toph handed the unconscious man to him. "Just put him elsewhere. Let's try not to get him killed, I guess… Sokka's better at dealing with these sorts of losers than we could be."

"Right… right," Shanyuan answered, picking up the firebender carefully.

In the end, he elected to bury him to the neck into the solid rock, much as he had learned the Fire Nation soldiers had been buried in Omashu, thus, successfully restraining them. By the time he was done digging the firebender into a proper, safe location, the work of the earthbending squad in the wall's foundations had begun.

"How will we know it's time to…?" asked one of the team's earthbenders, and Toph scoffed dismissively at the question.

"We took long enough convincing this lot to join us, it's definitely time by now," she said. "Sokka's got to be waiting, so… let's make this quick, alright?"

Their work wouldn't end here: this time, Toph and her earthbenders wouldn't simply emerge up top once more. This time, Sokka had given her a new mission that would be crucial for the smooth progress of their army across the Middle Ring…

An army that had already assembled and stood ready to march: Sokka checked the frontlines, walking before the many shielded warriors, most of whom held spears. Firebending troops took their places between each shielded warrior, prepared to launch their attacks once Sokka commanded them to do so, and a line of waterbenders stood behind them too, Katara among them. A single squad would linger behind, securing the Lower Ring still and intending to prevent any attacks from their foes in case any surprise assaults came their way… something unlikely, of course, as Tiang had clearly concentrated most his forces towards the center of the city, but they would do best not to risk being caught off-guard, regardless.

"General Tiang had one hour to surrender…!" Sokka bellowed, his voice carrying over as he paced before his troops: Foo-Foo, along with all the other mounts and creatures of their army, including Appa and Momo, would stay in the Lower Ring along with the squad that would protect their gained territory in the city. "And he wasted that chance! Our forces will show the mercy the Fire Nation never showed their enemies… but if they refuse to back down, we will seize victory at any cost!"

A celebratory roar followed his words. Sokka tossed a bellicose fist into the air, turning towards the Middle Ring's wall: almost on cue, a now-familiar cracking sound, akin to thunder, snapped across the Lower Ring. Sokka's eyes narrowed as the rocks began to crumble: he hoisted his helmet once more, setting it carefully in place: once more, it would be the unmistakable symbol that would give away his status as the commanding officer on this battlefield.

"Ready yourselves!" Sokka bellowed: he would take his own place within the formation soon, right behind the firebenders, where his sister and Aang stood as well: his command carried back across their ranks by the horns of the musicians' squad.

The snapping sounds continued, followed soon by a deep rumble: as it happened in all walls before this one, the entire structure went down smoothly, sinking into the ground and revealing the much neater and pristine Middle Ring before their eyes: large streams, white, cobbled, spacious streets spread before them, and numerous buildings of green-tiled roofs. Even before the dust settled, all such details were easy to spot for the eager army standing ready to march forward.

"Steady…!" Sokka exclaimed, watching the street before him intently: further in, so far away it was hard to detail it, stood two tanks, side by side. Well, that wouldn't be fun…

But that wasn't what he was waiting for. The one thing he needed, right now, was…

An area of the street sprung up suddenly, violently: spears and wooden stakes protruded from it, sticking out from the ground and collapsing on the street in a clutter. Another area of the street followed, and more spikes and spears cluttered the street as the traps were disarmed from below by the earthbenders Sokka had tasked with that duty: the simplest possible solution to deal with the pits and the traps dug into the ground would be by upturning them, naturally. A smirk spread across his face as he raised his sword, stepping to the side before shouting.

"FORWARD!"

A war cry followed, the horns blared his orders, the drums echoed the rhythm their forces would move at, and the massive White Lotus army began their slow but stable march towards the Upper Ring.

As planned, Sokka slipped through the formation and entered his own position right behind the first two lines of defense. If worst came to worst at any point in time, him, Katara and Aang would pass the soldiers, taking point and changing the tide of the battles once more.

For now, though, he marched behind Zuko, who nodded in acknowledgement at Sokka as they progressed steadily through the dangerous terrains of the Middle Ring.

The solution for the traps had been quite simplistic, Sokka knew, but it hadn't needed to be more convoluted than that: in fact, it was far more convenient for their army to undo the traps this way, since the numerous spears on the ground would surely find their way to the hands of the Ba Sing Se locals who hadn't been fortunate enough to find a weapon and insisted on joining the battles ahead empty-handed. A near-empty portion of the city – it seemed, going by the silence and general tranquility in the streets, that the Middle Ring's inhabitants had been evacuated as well – seemed theirs for the taking, no matter if the tanks ahead were enough evidence that it wouldn't be that smooth a process, going forward.

"Stay ready to deflect that ballista's bolt once they fire it, Aang," Sokka told Aang, who nodded promptly. "Zuko…"

"I know," Zuko said, hands tightened into fists: he hadn't done anything too meaningful so far, but he suspected that would change now that they were marching deeper into the Middle Ring.

The traps in the street before them constantly would be upturned, several meters ahead of the first line… until one wasn't. Sokka roared a halting command: the entire army slowed down, paralyzed in place until, after a longer period than expected, the next trap came undone. Had Toph's group been attacked underground? It seemed likely…

Deep in the bowels of Ba Sing Se's undercity, the Blind Bandit made no further displays of mercy: she and her earthbenders roared mightily as they fought against the onslaught of Fire Nation forces that had rushed them underground. It seemed Tiang's defenses now had focused on attacking the earthbenders, much as Sokka had anticipated: without the earthbenders, breaking into the Upper Ring would become as good as impossible for Sokka's forces, no matter if the walls seemed thinner the deeper into the city they went…

Therefore, the answer was clear: Toph couldn't allow this battle to end unfavorably for their forces.

Her mercilessness was quickly replicated by those under her command: one large group took care of fighting the droves of attackers rushing at them, sometimes dangerously, sometimes not so much, while another, much smaller group, raised themselves to the level of the surface, probed the ground to seek the traps' locations, and then reversed them with a quick earthbending strike that saw the earth returning to its normal form, to a fault: all stakes and spears would be hoisted out of the trap's holes once that happened, and their deadliness against their forces would be annulled entirely.

But that wasn't going to stop the defenses of Ba Sing Se's current occupants completely: even upon realizing their traps were backfiring, the troops positioned deeper in the Middle Ring didn't turn tail and flee: once the enemy frontlines were close enough, the two tanks fired their ballista bolts straight at the enemy forces.

Aang leapt out of the formation, creating a whirlwind potent enough to knock both bolts out of their intended path and into the buildings next to where their troops were charging. The soldiers ahead wasted no time loading new bolts, and it seemed Aang would have to continue defending them through those evasive tactics for the time being…

"Sokka!" Katara called him. He nodded, ushering her to speak. "We can try to mess with the tanks with the water from that stream, back there!"

"Can the other waterbenders reach it still?" Sokka asked. Katara shrugged.

"We can try," she said. Sokka breathed deeply and nodded.

"Then go for it!" he said, clasping her arm firmly as Katara slipped out of their formation, conveying her new idea to Anorak.

Aang seemed to have matters well in hand, but their progress was notoriously slowed by the slow pace of the traps' undoing, too. As ever, this seemed to be a matter of patience, just a matter of waiting until…

"FIRE!"

The cry startled Sokka until he registered it had come from behind him: suddenly, a rain of projectiles flew towards the tanks, startling the men manning them. The archers positioned by the rooftops had finally taken their positions, but beyond them, Commander Shiju's earthbenders had unleashed heavy rocks against the tanks as well, working together to replicate the impact of a catapult merely a few steps away from the tanks… with a little more range, and slightly better aim, their first obstacle would be out of their way.

The tanks, however, reeled back over the danger, predictably so. Now, it seemed the enemy would settle for backing up and continuing to unleash ballista bolts while the archers and earthbenders rushed from rooftop to rooftop, taking a rather severe risk by exposing themselves that way: one ballista bolt, coming from another street, struck two archers in one rooftop near where the frontlines were marching. Sokka snarled at the sound, hoping the archers would survive what might have been lethal injuries…

"Do you want us to attempt a fire barrage yet?!" Zuko asked Sokka. He shook his head.

"We need to get closer or it won't pay off!" he said. "We keep going until…!"

Until Katara returned, was what he meant to say, but the tidal wave that suddenly soared over their heads silenced him just as it finally gave the tank's officers true reasons to flee: how could ballista bolts, short-range flaming projectiles or firebending stand their ground against the relentless onslaught of a wall of water?

The wave of water crashed violently into the tanks, shoving them backwards regardless of the strong grip and traction of the vehicles. The soldiers within the tanks were unprepared for the potent impact of the wave, causing them to bounce back within the tanks, hitting their heads against the metal walls: the water flooded the tanks and the waterbenders endeavored to keep it there, swirling around the vehicles. Their army marched forward then, still slowly, offering their underground earthbenders the time to undo more traps if there were any, while the waterbenders ensured to keep the tanks engulfed in water – once they finally reached the tanks, the waterbenders flung both vehicles to the side and drew back the liquid: none of the soldiers within the tanks reacted anymore, either drowned to death or unconsciousness. With the first tanks out of the way, however, their progress through the Middle Ring would continue rather straightforwardly.

More upturned traps as they marched through the wide streets allowed them to progress deeper into the city. Upon turning at one street, however, they were greeted by a squad of Fire Nation soldiers, many of them mounted, flanking tanks, prepared to ambush the attacking army:

"FIRE!" exclaimed the leader of the Fire Nation squad: the lack of archers gave away quickly that this was a very literal command.

"Firebenders, defend!" Sokka bellowed, and Zuko roared as he stepped forward, within the space he could move in behind the shielded pikemen.

His group, around fifty firebenders, stomped hard on the ground, raising their hands and preparing themselves to contain the barrage right before it could reach the pikemen. Sokka glanced over at the rooftops, confirming archers were within the vicinity before shouting:

"ARCHERS, FIRE!"

While still hounded by the tanks that were now mobilizing to better aim at their enemies, the archers obeyed as best they could, same as the earthbending troops that had hoisted them there: they stood at a standstill now, with the archers struggling to retain their footing against tanks that could already fire at them with their shorter-ranged projectiles, and with the firebending struggle that took place between the frontlines of Sokka's army and the Fire Nation troops…

Until a blue boomerang flew through the barrage of flames at vertiginous speed and struck the commanding officer right across his prominent belly.

He screamed, clutching at his unarmored gut – his armor was but a chest piece that didn't fully cover his body. The momentary confusion caused by his injury allowed Zuko's group a slight respite that they didn't waste: the Exiled Prince raised his voice as loudly as possible as he gave the next command.

"ATTACK NOW!"

It wasn't a uniform wall of flames at first, but it became one before long: the brief distraction caused their enemy forces to fail at containing the attack. Where the fifty firebenders behind the Gladiator and White Lotus army's frontlines could work together to diminish and wear down the fire they had cast first, the twenty remaining firebenders assigned to defend the tanks couldn't hope to do the same once their roles were reversed.

The screaming was unsettling, but Zuko didn't let it shake him: he continued to power his attacks, his flames burning fierce and brightly with the determination that had seen him surviving countless ordeals, the determination that would bring him back home, to his wife and daughters, one day… succeeding here and now would see to the fulfillment of that goal, even if said success came at the steep cost of being responsible for inflicting pain and death which he had never dealt to anyone before… but he couldn't stop now. He couldn't dishonor his forces by backing out now. However unsettling this might be, he had been the one who had urged Sokka not to take matters for granted and to fight to his best, regardless of the obstacles along his path: he refused to let his own resolve falter when his friends, when this army, needed him most.

The enemy forces crumbled against the onslaught of firebending: some fled, others weren't lucky or strong enough to get away. Once more, the waterbenders made short work of the tanks before the archers and earthbenders on the rooftops took too much damage, and their marching continue. The army's pikemen stabbed at the ground cautiously to ensure there were no traps in the area, for the earthbenders hadn't upturned any traps in the past few streets: about five minutes of slow march later, a trap was overturned in the next street's intersection, revealing they had reached dangerous grounds once more.

The archer groups continued to move quickly through the rooftops, raining arrows upon whatever enemies came closer: they were the more exposed troops, even if the height of the buildings afforded them some advantages over the Fire Nation soldiers. They marched on, aided by the earthbenders, and a battle on three different levels of Ba Sing Se continued to be waged as the infantry came across a new set of dangerous tanks in the widest street they'd entered so far.

This time, Sokka dreaded they might be too many for Aang to deflect their projectiles effectively once they attacked their forces: the vehicles also seemed ready to ram into their army, determined to take down their foes even if it cost them their lives. It starkly reminded Sokka of the troops that had been so easily baited in the South Pole into abandoning all caution and sense just to hunt him down… and he inevitably wondered if that would happen now, too, if he took a new approach to this battle other than dwelling within the thick of the frontlines.

"Aang…!" Sokka called him: "Can you shoot me over there with your bending?!"

"I… what?!" Aang gasped.

"Yes or no?!"

"I… yes! I guess?!" Aang winced. Sokka nodded.

"Then do it. That's too many tanks for comfort," he said, firmly.

"Katara's waterbenders could bash them again…" Aang proposed, but Sokka shook his head.

"Unless they found another source of water close by, it'll be a while before they have enough to do that now, so… go for it!" Sokka said. Aang sighed: he truly hoped Katara wouldn't be mad at him for agreeing to Sokka's reckless plan…

And so, without another word, without warning the bulk of their army, Sokka found himself soaring across the sky, catapulted violently by Aang's earthbending and kept adrift by a stream of air he commanded to prolong Sokka's flight as much as possible.

The tanks appeared not to take him as a serious threat at first: that changed as soon as they identified him as the enemy's commanding officer. Sokka's sword remained drawn and at the ready as he spun in midair, dodging the two potent ballista attacks launched by the better prepared tanks that had slowed down on their intent to ram into the army just to give chase to the Gladiator.

"HALT! FIRE AS ONE!" exclaimed one of the commanding officers, and the tanks slowed down until they stopped their progress altogether: the next projectiles would be the burning ones, Sokka suspected, withdrawing his club next and spinning in the air quickly to strike at the first one that came his way – because, as it turned out, they failed to fire as one.

He didn't land on the ground: instead, Sokka's knees took a heavy impact as he fell on the turret of the closest tank. Had they continued to move, he might have been able to attack the tanks from behind, but this would have to do. He wasted no time severing the system through which the ballista bolts and burning projectiles were launched, and he slid his sword twice through the turret for good measure. The screams that followed his every action, and the blood that stained his blade, didn't give him any pause: a couple more slashes and stabs saw to the destruction of the tank's mechanisms fully, preventing the wheels from working properly and ensuring the tank wouldn't be able to make use of its nimble flexibility any longer.

Then, Sokka jumped: the newly charged projectiles from the other tanks soared past him, causing friendly fire as Sokka deliberately dove in between different tanks to make them fire at each other by mistake. Each such accident was to the greater detriment of the screaming Fire Nation forces: more tanks rushed in, firing quickly at the commotion within the first cluster of tanks, but their projectiles didn't find purchase on the nimble Gladiator.

He was winning time, of course: his actions distracted a whole dozen of tanks and ensured his troops could march forward, hellbent on taking down the enemy vehicles. Some of the soldiers manning the tanks caught notice of what was happening, but this time Aang would have it much easier to deflect the enemy's fire, for most of the still-functioning tanks remained locked down on Sokka, it seemed. They damaged themselves, each other, lost in confusion as the sharp blade continued to destroy their weapons and chassis with each swift attack it dealt against their forces.

Then, the infantry arrived: a roar of pride preceded the vicious stabbing of the pikemen, and the potent fire attacks launched by the firebenders at the first tanks. Sokka continued forward, jumping on the back of a racing tank that remained in good enough shape to backtrack and escape, and he ensured that wouldn't be the case any longer: he sliced the wheels off, causing the speeding vehicle to veer off to the side and crash fully into a building. He leapt off it before impact, and he ensured to cast his boomerang at the escaping, wounded pilots – the very last of them begged for mercy that Sokka was reluctant to grant…

But he granted it regardless: a single blow to knock out his foe allowed him to survive as a prisoner for the time being. Perhaps, once Tiang refused to trade anything for this hostage, the soldier would finally understand that his life meant nothing to the Fire Nation's leaders…

Once the tanks were destroyed by fire, water and a wide variety of weapons, Sokka returned to his place in their formation before their forces moved forward once more: they had made it through over half of the Middle Ring and it was apparent that the densest resistance would await in the next wall, the one meant to keep them out of the Upper Ring. There was one more quest left for their forces to undergo before reaching it, however:

"Commander Koemi! It's time!" Sokka bellowed: the Enforcers' leader marched along with the army several rows back, but she was prepared for what Sokka's next order would be well before he had to speak it.

"Right away, General!" she exclaimed: with that, she gave the order to her fellow Enforcers to follow her, and along with a few extra squads for safety, they split off from the main body of their army, marching fast to the location where Ba Sing Se's Enforcers' headquarters stood while the rest of the forces moved onwards to the Upper Ring.

The remaining resistance across the Middle Ring was almost insignificant: only a set of ten tanks stood before the Upper Ring's wall, and a cluster of scattered spikes and spears revealed that the earthbenders underground had managed to overturn the traps here, too. Sokka's forces marched past the scattered remains of those traps, ready to face the tanks.

"Waterbenders…!" Sokka commanded: his sister, along with the other waterbenders, had gathered a considerable source of water after the previous fight had ended. They amassed a major water blast that would strike the tanks harder than a waterfall, if possible… "NOW!"

The waterbending-based attack came hurtling towards the tanks without any restraint: the soldiers within the tanks panicked, firing their ballista and flaming projectiles as best they could, only for the first to be struck out of balance by the Avatar's airbending and for the second ones to be scorched to cinders by Zuko's forces, all while the massive tidal wave approached, ready to strike…

The tanks sank into the ground, instants before the water struck them.

Its potent momentum saw the water rushing onwards relentlessly, frightening the forces preparing to defend the Upper Ring on the wall. They hardly had a chance to scream before the massive attack slammed into the wall as a tsunami might, a wall that, as it happened, wasn't as thick as any of the walls Toph had torn down previously.

Thus, the Upper Ring's secluding wall collapsed under the brutal onslaught of water that now poured down the hole the tanks had fallen into, as well as rushing into the Upper Ring itself: more screams and desperation followed as Sokka gaped wordlessly at an attack that had wound up being far more powerful than he had initially anticipated it to be.

"Guess… guess the Upper Ring's open now?!" Zuko said: his voice rang with uncertainty, and Sokka couldn't help but share his apprehension.

Much of the water had lost its momentum after colliding with the wall, and some had poured into that hole in which the tanks were likely drowning now. But much of that water had still poured into the Upper Ring… and most of it had been evaporated by now through the sheer power of the numerous firebenders prepared to defend the more exclusive area of the city.

This was Tiang's last stand. This was where he had gathered his strongest troops. As much as Sokka had known the fiercest battle would be found here, the reality of it was only solidifying now as they stood before multiple rows of prepared infantry, firebenders and tanks that had surely been awaiting their arrival.

Sokka's forces had been marching non-stop for about three hours now. As much as adrenaline coursed through their bodies, the constant, sustained aggression was bound to take its toll on them eventually, and it seemed likely that it would at the very worst of moments.

"This isn't good," Aang said, shivering. Sokka gritted his teeth.

"We aren't about to falter now. We made it all this way… this is our last challenge," he said.

"FIRE NATION!" roared one commander on the other side of the crumbled wall. "PREPARE TO REPEAL THE INVADERS!"

A chorus of uniform war cries followed, and Sokka snarled as his eyes flickered quickly across the area: what now? If this came to another direct, body-to-body confrontation, they might still win… but at what cost? How many would have to die? How many would Tiang immolate pointlessly just to fill his mind with delusions of having done what the Fire Lord expected of him?

He breathed deeply, stilling himself: this was the last stretch indeed. There was no second-guessing, no holding back, not if all those soldiers were determined to stop them.

"Steady…!" Sokka shouted, his voice carried over back across the booming sounds of the tsungi horns once more.

A rumbling sound accompanied the tsungi horns. A sound that, this time, didn't arrive along with the cracking of the stone wall.

The earth underneath their feet began to quake and shift, to tremble violently and daunt the fierce Fire Nation soldiers that had seemed ready for anything…

But perhaps it would have been too much to expect them to be prepared for a sudden chasm to erupt in the middle of their formation.

"Back up! Back up!" shouted one of the Fire Nation commanders: it seemed they had suspected earthbending foul play… but even so, they lacked the means to counter it effectively.

The chasm disorganized the Fire Nation troops, leaving Sokka with a new advantage to exploit. The earthbending feat was no true surprise, not even for them, though it was a welcome addition to their current situation: Toph and her forces had granted them one last underground advantage and, if possible, they'd join them above ground now, Sokka suspected. If Commander Koemi was successful, too, then reinforcements would arrive as well before long…

However difficult as it would be to defeat the thousands of soldiers housed within the Upper Ring, the path to victory had become clearer once more: Sokka raised his black blade, aiming it carefully towards the Palace, towering over the rest of the Upper Ring, concealed behind its own crimson wall. His eyes were set on that ultimate goal…

"FORWARD!" he bellowed, and the infantry obeyed his command at once.

Their heavy footsteps seemed marked by fear this time, even if they did as they were told: the watery earthbending trap in which the tanks had been dunked earlier was frozen over by the waterbenders, ensuring they could march forward still…

"Don't break formation!" Sokka exclaimed: the pikemen with him shivered but obeyed, fearful over potentially marching straight into the unstable chasm…

But when the first raised a foot over nothingness, a new chunk of earth appeared underneath his feet. The same happened with the next one. And with the next, and the next: the Fire Nation, still finding their bearings, were only just starting to prepare their defenses once more when the rebel forces marched through the very physical, very tangible gap in their formation.

"Attack! Attack with all you have, men!" shouted one of the Fire Nation soldiers, and the pandemonium began then:

Fire and arrows flew from side to side, water blasts slammed into battalions, air currents hindered the enemy: shields were raised, spears stabbed into them, deadly black swords sliced across enemy armor, flesh and bones with swift slashes: and all the while, the earth that had split the Fire Nation's forces in two was mended gradually to give the Gladiator's army a new foothold, allowing them to disrupt the enemy's formation, regardless of the numerical superiority of Tiang's troops.

The Upper Ring had been breached. The battle ahead would be fierce… Sokka slashed at soldiers, he stabbed at those who attempted to stab him, too. However difficult this situation might be, his determination wouldn't falter: their army would rise above this final hurdle to defeat Tiang in his last stand in Ba Sing Se.